Hi Clayton,
thanks for the explanation. I sent away for a book from Amazon last night to help me with this. Some reviews (of PS) I've read suggest that good help is defo going to be needed if you're toget anywhere with PS. Trial and error will take forever.
So I've bought Photoshop CS5 Digital Classroom by Jennifer Smith. It comes with great reviews and a dvd to help us work through the lessons too. looking forward to receiving it.
All the best